Of Stars and Cherry Blossoms
by Dreaming Snow
Summary: Sakura Kinomoto thought she was an ordinary thirteen year old girl, until strange people arrived at her house to tell her that she had been specially selected to attend a school for magical people, called Mahoutokoro. At the school, she finds out more about her dormant magical powers, the history of the school, and the history of who she is and how she came to possess magic.
1. Prologue

_Prologue_

_Several centuries ago, four of the greatest magicians came together with the idea of building a school that would allow young people with magical prowess to study and be trained in the magical arts so that they could become skilled, fully-trained magicians. These four magicians consisted of Li Xifeng from China, Oh Hyorin from Korea, Tanaka Ryuu from Japan, and Henry Reed, Li Xifeng's husband and the only non-Asian among the four. After selecting an uncharted island south of Japan, they decided on naming the school Mahoutokoro. After founding the school, these four great magicians created four different Houses for the school and selected four animals that would represent their house: Li Xifeng decided that her house would be represented by the Phoenix and prize wisdom and intelligence, Tanaka Ryuu decided that the House of Tanaka would be represented by the dragon and prize cunning and ambition, Henry Reed chose a lion to represent the House of Reed and valued traits such as friendship and loyalty, and Oh Hyorin chose a crane as a representation of her house, valuing traits such as kindness and virtue. At the time, Li Xifeng was pregnant with her and Henry Reed's child, a son they named Clow. When he was born, they enrolled him into the school when he was thirteen years of age, as the founders decided that thirteen would be a good age for children to start their magical education, as they weren't too young then, and that they would end their magical education at twenty. This was different from schooling in other countries like Britain, where magical children entered school at eleven years of age and ended at age seventeen or eighteen, depending on how old they were when they finished their seventh year of school. Though the school accepted children from all over Asia, they also accepted a few students from non-Asian countries, though this was very rare._

_When Clow was seventeen and in his fifth year at Mahoutokoro, there was a clash among the founders. Oh Hyorin wanted children with magical powers, but came from non-magical families to have a place to hone their skills. Tanaka Ryuu argued that such children had no place at the school and believed that they shouldn't be accepted at Mahoutokoro. When the other three founders disagreed with his views, he angrily left the school, never to be seen again, though the House of Tanaka still lived on. Li Xifeng and Henry Reed's son, Clow, would later grow up to be the school's first headmaster. Combining the teachings he had learned from his schooling at Mahoutokoro and from the knowledge of eastern and western magic, he created a legendary set of cards known as the Clow Cards and encased them in what looked like a book, but didn't have pages and instead had a deep rectangular hole into which the cards would be put into. To protect these cards, Clow created two guardians—a large, winged lion that he called Kerberos, and a winged, white-haired man with white silky robes named Yue. When he died, the Guardians and the Clow Book housing the Clow Cards disappeared, never to be seen again. Dark and light magicians journeyed far and wide to try and locate the infamous Clow Cards, but could not find it, and eventually, they decided that it must be a thing of the past and that Clow Reed must have put a strong magical spell to prevent anyone from finding it. The Clow Cards were then forgotten about for hundreds of years…that is, until now. Deep underneath the school, hidden behind a loose stone wall, a red book glowed, sensing that it would be awakened once again._


	2. The Shocking News

Of Stars and Cherry Blossoms

Chapter 1: The Shocking News

_Where am I? What is this place?_

_Green eyes, framed by short auburn locks, of a young girl searched wonderingly around at its surroundings. In front of those eyes was a large structure that looked very much like a castle of Japanese architecture surrounded by beautiful trees with abundant cherry blossoms. There was a golden plaque above the archway of the door, but she was too far away to be able to decipher what could be written on that plaque. Even more strange was that there seemed to be a shadow watching her from within its walls, a smirk creeping onto its face. The girl noticed the figure and reached her hand out in front of her, taking a step towards the castle and the figure. To her surprise, the figure turned around and walked away. _

"_Wait! Don't go!" the girl cried, breaking into a run, but when she reached the door, the figure was gone. Confused, she spun around in circles, trying to find out where the mysterious shadowy figure went, but it was nowhere in sight. Feeling compelled to look up, she did just that, and found that the word etched into the golden plaque read "Mahoutokoro." _

"_Mahou…tokoro?" she whispered. As she said those words, a breeze picked up and caused her hair to whip lightly against her face. _

RRRRRRIIIIIIIIIIINGG! RRIIIIIIIINNNNNNNGGGG!

"Aaah!" An arm shot out from under green covers and brushed over the shelf at the headboard of the bed, knocking over the noisy culprit known as an alarm clock. The covers then flew off, revealing a girl with short auburn hair. Her hand grabbed the alarm clock and she tiredly opened one eye and glanced at it. Within seconds, both of her eyes were wide open as she flung the covers off and stumbled out of bed. Pulling open the doors to her wardrobe, the young girl, who couldn't be any older than thirteen and short and petite at 162cm, tugged off her white nightshirt and slipped on a white collared shirt, then pulled on a black, long-sleeved shirt with a square neckline and white cuffs with red trims at the end of the sleeves. She then put on a white skirt that ended halfway above her knees, also bearing the same red trim along the bottom. She then fastened a white tie with the red line forming a wide V along the bottom around her neck, tucking it under the collars. Sakura finished up her morning routine by taking two cherry blossom hair pins and fastening one to each side of her head. After that, she grabbed her black book bag hanging off her chair and scrambled out of her room. Her feet pounded against the stairs as she descended them to the ground floor, then went into the kitchen where a tall man with brown hair, dark eyes, and glasses warmly greeted her.

"Morning, Sakura," the man greeted.

The young female known as Sakura smiled back at the man. "Morning, dad!" she chirped as her father set a plate of pancakes down in front of her. Sakura clapped her hands together and breathed in the smell of the freshly made pancakes before pouring syrup over it. She then ate her pancakes as quickly as she could, not taking the time to savor the flavor, before shooting up.

"Do you have classroom duty today?" her father asked.

Sakura nodded as she chugged down a glass of water, then set it back down on the table as she grabbed her bag. "Hai! It's the first day of the new school year, so we have to make it look nice," she responded. She grabbed the wrapped bento that her father held out to her with a "thank you" and then went out to the front door, where she slipped out of her house slippers and into black buckle shoes before running out the door, shooting "I'm off!" behind her. As she got past the gate, she heard "See you later!" from her father.

Her legs ran as fast as they could go as Sakura dashed towards the school, not wanting to be late. She was notorious for that, and her teachers knew it. Whenever she came in late, they would just look at her with a sigh, and Sakura would know that she had acquired another detention. However today, she had to be there extra early since she had classroom duties. Ten minutes later, she finally reached the school, the name Tomoeda Junior High etched proudly on the signage over the school gates, and panted as she ran up to the second floor to room 9-B, the location of her classroom. Sliding the door open, Sakura noticed that the classroom was empty, which was to be expected. Setting her book bag down on her seat, which was the second to last seat on the far side of the room by the windows, Sakura went to work while wondering where the person who was supposed to be helping her was. The first thing she did was go to write down what they would be doing that day, but to her surprise, it had already been filled in. She blinked and tilted her head to one side. Did her partner show up before her and complete the tasks already? Had she been that late? No, obviously not, as the other students hadn't even arrived yet. Sakura was so deep in thought that she didn't notice that someone was creeping up behind her until they spoke.

"Yo," the person greeted.

Sakura nearly jumped out of her skin as she whirled around, her hand flying up to her chest. "Oh, it's only you, Keitou-kun," she sighed in relief, then punched him lightly in the arm. "Don't scare me like that!"

The dark haired boy grinned back at her as he brushed his hand through his luscious locks. "You're so fun to scare, Sakura-chan," he said to his classmate.

Sakura held up the book where they had to record the daily report. "You filled this in already? When did you get here?"

"About thirty minutes ago," Keitou replied. "I basically did most of the duties, so all you need to do is take care of the plants."

Sakura blushed. "Hooeeee, I'm sorry that I was late! I should've been here to help you out, not have you do most of the chores!"

Keitou threw his head back and laughed. "It's fine, Sakura-chan. Anyway, better get started on watering the plants soon. Class starts in ten minutes."

Sakura smiled and nodded. "Un!" She then went to obtain a watering can to water the plants sitting on the counter at the back of the room and replaced the dead flowers with fresh new ones. By the time she finished, there was five minutes left until the start of class, and other students were starting to enter. A girl with long black hair that reached her hips and striking blue eyes bounced up to the auburn haired girl with a large smile.

"Morning, Sakura-chan!" she greeted.

Sakura beamed back at the girl. "Morning, Tomoyo-chan!"

The dark haired girl, known as Tomoyo, took her seat across from Sakura's on the right. "Guess what, I got a new camcorder with high definition, so now I can film you better than ever now!" Her eyes radiated as she talked about her newest gadget, seeming proud of herself. Sakura laughed nervously, though inside she was feeling frightened. Tomoyo and her camcorder were never a good combination, she had learned.

"Hooeeeee…"

"Morning Sakura-chan, Tomoyo-chan!" three of their classmates greeted; one was a girl with short brown hair and glasses, another was a girl with brown curly pigtails, and another was a girl with short, wavy dark brown hair.

"Morning Naoko-chan, Chiharu-chan, Rika-chan," Sakura greeted them cheerfully. "How was your weekend?"

"It was fun," Chiharu responded. She was about to give details on how her weekend went when the door to the classroom slid open and an authoritative voice announced, "Alright, class is about to start, so report to your seats" as a tall man walked into the classroom.

"I'll tell you about it later," Chiharu said as she went to her seat near the front of the room. Sakura nodded and waved to her friends as they reported to their assigned seats. Throughout the day, she couldn't help but wonder about her dream. What did it mean? What exactly was Mahoutokoro? How come she never heard of the place before? Most importantly, who was that mysterious shadowy figure that had been watching her?

"MISS KINOMOTO!"

Sakura snapped out of her daze and gave a startled yell when she saw her teacher staring back at her.

"G-gomen, Terada-sensei!" Sakura cried as she straightened up in her seat and bowed profusely. "It won't happen again!"

"You've been saying that since fourth grade," Mr. Terada sighed. "Perhaps you need to adjust your sleeping habits, or learn some concentration skills. Anyway, the class is over. Report to your next class, Miss Kinomoto."

Sakura's cheeks turned pink. "H-hai. I'm sorry again, Terada-sensei." She then packed up her notebook and pen, tucking them neatly into her school bag before getting up to go to her next class.

After school, after bidding her friends farewell, Sakura went straight home to her medium-sized yellow house.

"I'm home!" she called cheerfully as she unlocked her front door and entered. She took off her shoes at the front, then slipped into house slippers and went into the kitchen. Next to the fridge was a large whiteboard with her name and her father's name. Next to her name, the phrase "prepare dinner" was written, and next to her father's name was "will be home late." The whiteboard was a place for her family to write down memos and/or tasks. Sakura then went up to her room to put away her bookbag before returning downstairs to the kitchen. She opened the fridge and took out the necessary ingredients for making shrimp croquette for dinner, then set to work on preparing dinner. While she was frying the croquette on low heat, the doorbell rang, echoing throughout the house.

"Hoe? Who could it be?" she murmured to herself as she quickly flipped the croquettes to the other side before going to answer the door. The doorbell rang again, prompting her to say, "I'm coming!" Unlocking the door, she pulled it open and found herself staring at two people, one of whom was wearing strange robes. One was a boy who looked to be her age, with dark hair and blue eyes and wearing black and blue robes. The other was a tall woman with red hair, wearing a long-sleeved V-neck top and a knee-length beige skirt.

"Are you Miss Sakura Kinomoto?" the boy asked.

Sakura nodded. "H-hai…I'm sorry, but who are you?"

"Before we get into that, are any of your parents home?" the woman asked.

Sakura shook her head. "My dad's at work and won't be returning until late this evening. Is it important?"

"Yes, it is," the boy responded. "What about your mother?"

Sakura smiled sadly. "She passed away when I was three."

The two strangers smiled ruefully at her. "I'm sorry, we didn't know," the woman said. "Anyway, what we want to discuss with you and your father is very important, so we shall return later this evening."

Sakura nodded. "Okay."

The boy suddenly sniffed the air and frowned. "Do I smell something…burning?"

The color drained from Sakura's face as she realized with horror that that was her croquette and the family dinner that was burning. "Hoooeeeeeeeee! My croquette!" she screeched as she pivoted on her heels and quickly ran back into the kitchen. She flipped over the croquettes and sure enough, the other side was dark and burnt. Quickly turning off the heat, she used a mesh strainer to transfer the burnt croquette onto a plate to discard them; there was no way they could be eaten. She would just have to start over again. Remembering that she had rudely left the guests waiting at the door, she turned red in embarrassment and went out of the kitchen, only to find that the front door had been closed. Frowning, she opened the front door and peered out, but noticed that the two strangers were gone.

"Guess they left," she said to herself before closing the front door again. Little did she know that the two strangers hadn't really left and that they were nearby, watching her. Meanwhile, Sakura returned to the kitchen and remade the croquettes from scratch, thankful that there was enough shrimp to make another batch. This time, she kept watch over the croquettes to prevent them from getting burnt again. After the croquettes were done, she set the table for her and her father, then glanced over at a third chair.

_I wonder how oniichan is doing at college,_ she thought before bringing the plate of croquettes over to the table, then scooped out rice from the rice cooker into two small bowls and set them on the table. By the time she finished setting up, the front door opened, followed by a voice.

"I'm home!"

Sakura lit up as she went out of the kitchen to greet her father. "Welcome back!"

"Something smells good," her father responded with a smile.

"I made croquettes!" Sakura said, beaming.

"Sounds delicious," her father complimented as he went to sit down at the dinner table. Halfway through their dinner, he asked, "How was school today?"

"Oh, it was fun," Sakura beamed. "Tomoyo-chan is in all my classes again. I'm so glad!"

"That's good," her father responded with a smile. "Ah, I wonder how Touya's doing. I hope he's doing well at college."

Sakura smiled. "I'm sure onii-chan is doing fine."

Just then, the doorbell rang. Her father set down his bowl of rice and frowned. "Who could that be?" he wondered out loud as he rose from his seat and went to answer it. When he flung open the door, a tall woman and a boy around Sakura's age smiled at him.

"Excuse me, are you Kinomoto Fujitaka?" the woman asked.

Fujitaka nodded. "Yes. How can I help you?"

"My name is Mizuki Kaho," the woman introduced, "And this is Hiiragizawa Eriol. We have something we want to discuss with you and your daughter."

Fujitaka furrowed his eyebrows in confusion. "I see. Is there something wrong, Mizuki-san?"

"No, there's nothing wrong," Eriol said with a smile. "However, we do want to inform you that your daughter has been invited to attend a school called Mahoutokoro for magical people."

Sakura, who had been listening from down the hallway, gasped when she heard what Eriol had said. A school for magical people? Her? But she was just an ordinary girl! There was no way she would possess any magical powers! What startled her even more was that these two, who called themselves Hiiragizawa Eriol and Mizuki Kaho, mentioned that the name of the school she had been selected to go to was Mahoutokoro, the same school that she had seen in her dreams! Was this all a coincidence, or was there something more to it?

Fujitaka was also confused as well, because he pointed out, "I'm sorry, you must be mistaken. My daughter doesn't have any magic at all. We're just an ordinary family, you see."

Eriol smiled. "Sakura-san is, as we call it in England where I come from, a Muggle-born, a person with magical abilities born to a family with no magical abilities. Your son also had some magical abilities, but they were not strong enough for us to send an invitation to him, as his magical abilities only allowed him to see spirits. However, we sense that your daughter has a lot of raw, untapped magical abilities inside her, and we would like to offer her a place at our school."

"But…I just started school here!" Sakura blurted out, joining her father at the door. "I can't possibly start school so soon! What will I do? I don't want to leave Tomoyo-chan and my other friends behind! I also just joined the cheer squad, too…"

"Kinomoto-san, if you do not wish to accept the invitation, then we understand," Kaho said. "However, we would like it if you could please consider it, and send us a reply by the end of the week, and that doesn't include the weekend." She held out her hands and bowed as she handed the invitation to Mahoutokoro to Sakura, who bowed slightly back as she took the invitation from Kaho. "Once you write your reply on the invitation, it will disappear into thin air, and our headmaster will receive word of your acceptance."

"Ano…who is the headmaster of this Mahoutokoro?" Sakura asked.

Eriol smiled. "That would be me, Miss Kinomoto."

Sakura widened her eyes. "You? But…"

"I look your age? Don't be fooled, Sakura-san," Eriol said with a smile. "I'm using a powerful spell to make me look this young for a purpose that I can't tell you right now. I'm actually about your father's age. Anyway, I do hope you consider joining us. Then…" He bowed again to Sakura and Fujitaka, then turned around and left. Kaho also bowed and uttered her goodbye before joining Eriol. Fujitaka closed the door while Sakura ran up to her room with the invitation in hand. Throwing herself on her bed, she curled up into a fetal position and clutched her pillow tightly, her invitation still held tightly in one of her hands. Why did everything seem so confusing all of a sudden? How could she not have known that she possessed magical powers for the past thirteen years of her life? She then flipped over and glanced at the invitation. Cautiously, she broke the pretty wing seal to read the contents of the letter.

_Dear Kinomoto Sakura,_

_You are receiving this letter because you have been detected to possess magical powers. We would like to offer you a spot at Mahoutokoro, a magical school located in Japan for wizards, witches, and sorcerers from all over Asia. Should you decide to attend, we have enclosed a list of school supplies that you would need. If you find that you do not wish to attend, then we wish you luck in your future endeavors. Term starts on April 12__th__. We await your response no later than April 6__th__._

_Sincerely,_

_Mizuki Kaho  
Kyoutou-sensei _

Sakura then flipped to the second page, where it listed the supplies that the letter said she would need if she were to attend Mahoutokoro.

_UNIFORM_

_First year students will require:_

_Two sets of plain work robes (black)_

_One pair of protective gloves_

_One winter cloak (black with silver fastenings)_

_Please note that all pupil's clothes should contain name tags to prevent items from getting lost. _

_COURSE BOOKS_

_All students should have a copy of each of the following:_

_The Beginner's Guide to Magical Theory by Watanube Takeshi_

_An Expansive History of Mahoutokoro by Chang Wu Fan_

_Art of Transfiguration, Year 1 by Li Yixing_

_Potion-Making, Year 1 by Kinou Kaitou_

_Mythical Beasts in Asia by Seo Yu Kyung_

_Secrets of Magical Herbs and Fungi by Ikeda Hana_

_Defenses Against the Dark Forces by Kim Yeonsuk _

_The Standard Book of Spells by Miranda Goshawk_

_OTHER EQUIPMENT:_

_1 wand or magical staff_

_1 cauldron (cast-iron or pewter, size 2)_

_1 set glass or crystal phials_

_1 telescope_

_1 set brass scales_

_Students may also bring, if they desire, a pet that they call their familiar. _

_PARENTS ARE REMINDED THAT FIRST YEARS ARE NOT PERMITTED TO BRING THEIR OWN BROOMSTICK. _

_Sincerely,_

_Yoshida Fumiko  
Chief Attendant of Magical Provisions in Asia _

Sakura widened her eyes at the large supply list for Mahoutokoro. If she chose to attend, where would she even find all of these supplies? She didn't think she would be able to find the books in an ordinary bookstore if these were for magical students attending Mahoutokoro! She then noticed that at the very bottom of the letter were two boxes, one for the phrase "Yes, I will attend Mahoutokoro" and one for "No, I will not attend Mahoutokoro." A sigh escaped her lips as she eyed the two phrases. Should she go? Should she decline? Her mind told her to go, to find out more about the school and to perhaps figure out the dream she had, but her heart told her to stay in Tomoeda with her friends and family. Tossing the letter off to the side, Sakura buried her head in her pillow once again and let out a soft moan. Since when did things become so complicated?

"Ohohoho, I didn't know my Sakura-chan had magical powers!" Tomoyo squealed the next day when Sakura showed her the letter that Eriol and Kaho had given her the day before. They were sitting in their usual spot beneath a particular tree off to the side of the school building as they ate their lunch. While Sakura usually ate lunch with Tomoyo, Chiharu, Rika, and Naoko, today she just ate lunch with Tomoyo because this was something she could only confide with her best friend. Sakura frowned as she studied the contents of the letter for perhaps the twentieth time.

"I didn't know either," she said. "I still think that this is just one big joke. How do I know that those people aren't just trying to scam me? How do I know it's not a secret plot to get young girls like me to a strange place with bad men?" By now, her imagination was obviously running wild, and fear struck her. What if it really was like that? What if Mahoutokoro was the name of a secret underground criminal organization? She bit her bottom lip in worry. Tomoyo sensed her friend's distress and patted her on the back.

"It's alright," she said encouragingly. "I'm sure it won't be like that. I think you should go, Sakura-chan, it's a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity!"

Sakura turned to look at her friend with horror. "And leave you and everyone else behind?" she asked. She shook her head, refusing to think of such a thing. "No, I can't! I just started school here! I don't want to suddenly leave! What would everyone think?" Sakura ran her hands through her hair before burying her face in them.

"Whatever you choose to do, I'm going to support you all the way," Tomoyo said kindly. "Because whatever makes Sakura-chan happy will also make me happy."

"Tomoyo-chan…" Sakura was grateful to have someone like Tomoyo as a friend. She was sweet, caring, and understanding. Here was someone who you could spill your guts out to while still being listened to with an earnest ear, someone you could go to for advice. Tomoyo could keep age old secrets if asked of her and not tell a single soul about those secrets.

"Class is going to start soon. Let's finish eating and head back in," Tomoyo suggested.

Sakura smiled and nodded. "Un!"

* * *

"Congratulations, Syaoran-sama. You have been accepted to Mahoutokoro," a tall man with gray hair and a mustache and sporting spectacles and a butler's uniform replied as he bowed and handed a letter folded into thirds and sealed with a wing seal to a young man with brown hair and hard, calculating brown eyes. The boy who had been referred to as Syaoran-sama nodded as he took the letter from the man.

"Thank you, Wei. You may go now," Syaoran replied. Wei nodded and bowed once again before leaving the room. At once, Syaoran ripped the seal and glanced at the contents of the letter.

_Dear Li Syaoran,_

_We are pleased to inform you that you have been offered a spot at Mahoutokoro, a magical school located in Japan for wizards, witches, and sorcerers from all over Asia. Should you decide to attend, we have enclosed a list of school supplies that you would need. If you find that you do not wish to attend, then we wish you luck in your future endeavors. Term starts on April 12__th__. We await your response no later than April 6__th__._

_Sincerely,_

_Mizuki Kaho  
Kyoutou-sensei _

The second page of the letter listed all of the school supplies and textbooks that students would need for their first year. Syaoran chuckled lightly; he wouldn't need to purchase the textbooks. Every member of his family had once gone to the magical school, as they were related to one of the founders of the school, meaning that among the collection of books in the study were the textbooks that his family members had used; while the years had passed by, the books used hadn't changed. Syaoran was, after all, a Li, and not just any Li. His family was the prestigious Li Clan, the most powerful and influential magical family in all of Asia. Grabbing a pen, Syaoran checked off the box stating that he would attend Mahoutokoro without a second thought, then watched as the first page of the letter disappeared from his hands, leaving him with only the list of school supplies.

"Syaoran."

Syaoran turned around to face a tall, elegant woman with jet black hair tied up into a high ponytail and decorated extravagantly with hair ornaments. Her hanfu was long and flow down past her ankles, making her appear as if she was gliding rather than walking as she entered the room. The boy straightened up and immediately bowed to the woman.

"What is it, mother?"

His mother regarded him with a calculating stare. "When you get to Mahoutokoro, I have a task for you. Find the Clow Cards and become their new master."

Syaoran's gaze faltered for a second. "The Clow Cards? But mother, it hasn't been found for centuries! Not one person from our family in the past had been able to find them! Didn't you have trouble finding them as well, mother?"

"Yes, but we mustn't give up. We are descendants of Clow Reed, and so the Clow Cards rightfully belong to us," his mother replied. "It is your duty to find them and retrieve them. Do you understand, Syaoran?"

Syaoran nodded and bowed. "Yes, mother."

* * *

_Fwweeeet!_

The sound of a whistle going off rang through the air as Sakura stood in the middle of a large dirt field, twirling and tossing a long stick up into the air repeatedly. School had ended, and now she was going over cheer practice with the cheer team. Right now, they were practicing their baton tossing drills. As Sakura repeatedly performed the drill, she couldn't help but let her mind wander. Should she go to the school? Should she not go to the school? Would she find the answers to her dream by attending the school? Her eyes unfocused as she gazed up at the sky, not really focusing on the baton. She was only brought back to reality when she noticed her baton changing shape into…a long pink rod with a bird's head that had red gem for eyes and a beak and tiny wings at the back of the head at one end of the rod? It took her by surprise so much that she didn't even realize that her baton had come crashing down on her head, then fell uselessly to the ground. Immediately, the entire cheer squad stopped what they were doing and focused their attention on the dazed girl who seemed more shocked than anything. Then immediately, her shocked expression changed to that of pain as she crouched down and massaged her temple vigorously; that hurt!

"I'm home!" Sakura called as she entered her house and kicked off her shoes, then changed into house slippers. She checked the whiteboard, which read "At the archeology site. Won't be home until very late" next to Fujitaka's name. Sakura smiled; her dad was going to be very busy. She then went up to her room and set her bookbag down by her desk, then pulled out her English textbook and began working on her English homework, occasionally attempting to pronounce the English vocabulary out loud. Halfway through her homework, her eyes traveled over to the letter that was sticking out of her bookbag. She frowned as she stopped what she was doing to grab the letter and stare at it. This time when she grabbed the letter, she suddenly felt a strange feeling that she had never felt before. It washed over her and consumed her until she fell over onto her desk, her head hitting the hard surface as her eyes closed, the letter still held in one of her hands.

"_Hoee? What's going on? Where am I? Wasn't I just in my room earlier?" Sakura wondered out loud as she glanced around. She was in a beautiful courtyard, surrounded by high, white walls with lush green grass and a lone cherry blossom tree. A few distances away was a medium-sized lake, and right in front of the lake was a tall castle in the pagoda architectural style. She lifted a hand up to her forehead to block out the sun as she gazed up at the castle. This castle seemed so familiar. Sensing that she was not alone, Sakura spun around and found herself staring face to face with a cloaked, hooded figure. The only thing she could see was that he had piercing blue eyes that shone among all the black. _

"_Who…are you?" Sakura asked softly. _

_The figure said nothing, but only held a hand out to her. _

_Sakura took a step back, not knowing what to do. Who was this figure, and why did it offer a hand to her? The figure took a step towards her as she stepped back, still holding its hand out to her. Sakura swallowed and hesitated, looking at the outstretched hand with uncertainty. She then glanced up at the cloaked figure, trying to read his blue eyes but they were stoic, betraying any signs of emotions. Her eyes traveled down to the outstretched hand again, and with great hesitation, she slowly lifted her own hand and moved it towards the figure's outstretched hand. Without waiting for her to completely put her hand in its hand, the figure grabbed hold of her wrist and jerked her forward, taking the young girl completely by surprise. Its other arm wrapped tightly around her waist while the hand of the opposite arm let go of her wrist and snaked around the back of her delicate neck. Sakura struggled against the figure's crushing hug but it was no use; he was holding her too tightly. The blue eyes that was expressionless before now glanced back at her emerald ones with malice and cold amusement as the figure spoke for the first time. _

"_I shall wait for you, my sweet cherry blossom. Only you can help me find what it is that I am looking for." _

_From the voice, Sakura knew then that the figure was male. She felt something press against her neck, and her eyes closed once more. _

Sakura woke up with a jolt, nearly falling out of her chair as she did so, the letter dropping out of her hand. She glanced around and noticed that she was back in her room. Her English homework was still only halfway finished, the textbook opened to the assigned page. Beads of cold sweat trickled down from her forehead as she breathed heavily. It was all just a daydream. It wasn't real, but why did it seem so real? She shook her head and continued to work on her English homework. When she finished, she moved onto her history homework, leaving her least favorite subject, math, or more specifically, Pre-Algebra, for last. She would worry about the letter later; after all, she had three more days to respond to the letter.

* * *

A/N: Mahoutokoro is the name of the Japanese wizarding school that JK Rowling mentioned on Pottermore. Since it is the Japanese equivalent of Hogwarts, I figured that the textbooks and supplies used would be quite similar to the ones used at Hogwarts. This is not a HP/CCS crossover, as no encounters with the HP characters will be happening in this story. Everything in this story takes place entirely in either Tomoeda or Mahoutokoro, with familiar CCS characters and some new ones.

The mysterious blue-eyed figure that Sakura sees in her dream will play a significant part in this story, but his importance won't be revealed just yet. Anyway, will Sakura choose to go to Mahoutokoro, or will she decline the offer? Look out for the next chapter to find out!

An important note: Kyoutou-sensei is the Japanese term for "vice principal/deputy headmistress".

Please review! C:


	3. The Decision

Of Stars and Cherry Blossoms

Chapter 2: The Decision

Three days passed, and now Sakura only had a day left to reply to the letter. She decided to push it to the back of her mind and focused on her schooling at Tomoeda Junior High instead. In music class, they were going over music theory and reviewing how to identify inverted chords. Sakura enjoyed the class; next to PE, it was her favorite subject. When it came to sightsinging, though, she had a bit of trouble with her pitch and staying on tempo, but when it was Tomoyo's turn, she was flawless. She was, after all, the expert when it came to singing.

After school, Sakura walked home with Tomoyo. Sakura marveled at the rows of cherry blossom trees as she passed by them, holding her hands out joyously and watching as the petals floated past her fingertips. Tomoyo smiled at her best friend.

"You look so cute, Sakura-chan!"

Sakura grinned as she sheepishly rubbed the back of her head. "You think so?"

"Of course!" Tomoyo grasped both of Sakura's hands in her own. "And your kindness only makes you even cuter, Sakura-chan!"

"Hoeeee…"

They arrived at a fork in the road. Tomoyo waved to her friend. "See you tomorrow, Sakura-chan. Oh, call me if you've made a decision on the magic school!"

Sakura nodded. "Un. I will. Ja ne!" She watched as Tomoyo walked down a separate path before continuing forward. She skipped forward, humming to herself.

"Hmm mmm mmm, la la la la la…"

She soon arrived at her house. Swinging the gate open, she walked past it and then closed it. Her shoes went up the tiny steps of the porch before reaching the front door. She unlocked it and pushed it open to enter, then took off her shoes and slipped into house slippers. "I'm home!" she announced out loud.

There was no answer, so Sakura figured her dad was still at work. She ran up the stairs to her room and shut the door behind her, then slung her bookbag over her desk. Going over to her wardrobe, she selected some clothing, then went to the bathroom to bathe and shower. In the shower, she washed her hair with scented orange blossom shampoo and scrubbed her body clean of any dead skin cells and dirt, then went into the bath and let herself relax. She closed her eyes as she leaned her head back against the side of the tub. Taking a bath felt so refreshing! As soon as she closed her eyes, a voice then tickled her ear, murmuring,

"Better make your decision soon, my dear Sakura. The clock's ticking."

Sakura's eyes shot open and she bolted up. She glanced around in worry. Was it all just a dream? It felt so real, though. She shook her head and quickly climbed out of the bath, wrapping a towel around her naked form. She then drained the water from the bath before going over to her fresh batch of clothes and put them on. When she was completely clothed in a black off-the-shoulder top and a pink skirt, Sakura exited the bathroom and went back to the bedroom, where she plugged in her blowdryer and began to blowdry her hair while combing it. When her hair was thoroughly dry, she turned off the blowdryer and unplugged it from the wall, then wrapped the cord around the barrel of the blowdryer and put it away. The sound of the front door opening and closing told her that her dad was home. Sakura rushed out of her room and down the stairs to greet her dad, but to her surprise, it wasn't her dad.

"Oniichan…what are you doing home?" Sakura asked, surprised. "Shouldn't you be at college?"

Touya smirked at her. "Tomorrow's Friday. I don't have any classes on Friday, so I have a three day weekend. I go to Tokyo University, remember? I'm not that far away from home, kaijuu."

Sakura's hand curled up into a fist as she shook it angrily at her brother. "I am NOT a monster!" she snapped angrily.

The front door opened again, this time to reveal her father. Sakura lit up. "Otou-san! Welcome home!"

"It's good to be back," Fujitaka said, then took notice of his son. "Ah, Touya, you're back as well."

Touya nodded.

"WHAT? There is no way my little sister is going off to some strange school in the middle of nowhere!" he later shouted at dinner when Fujitaka told him how Sakura had been offered a spot at a magical school. "Tell them that you won't go!"

"Touya, this is a decision that only Sakura can make," Fujitaka said.

"Exactly, which is why I'm helping her decide, and I say that she doesn't go!" Touya snapped. Sakura sighed. Her brother was just too overprotective of her at times. Ever since their mom had died when she was three, he had become extremely overprotective of his little sister, fulfilling the promise he had made by his mother's side one day to always protect and cherish his little sister.

"Oniichan, I'm thirteen now," she pointed out. "I can take care of myself. I'm not a little girl anymore."

"No matter how old you are, you're still my little sister," Touya responded, then picked a fried shrimp off her plate. Sakura looked extremely livid.

"That was the last fried shrimp! Oniichan, you're so mean! You know how much I love fried shrimp!" she wailed while Touya tauntingly ate the fried shrimp in front of her face, the tail end of the shrimp sticking out and mocking her.

When everyone finished eating, Sakura went to wash the dishes. After finishing, she went back up to her room and threw herself onto the bed, her arms sprawled out to either side as she glanced up at the ceiling. She briefly closed her eyes, then opened them again. Why did she feel someone's touch in the bathtub and a voice that sounded similar to the one she had seen two days ago in her dream? Why did the strange voice invade her privacy? She shook her head, not wanting to think about it. She went over to her desk and picked up the Mahoutokoro letter, frowning. Perhaps if she went, she would learn more about her dormant magical powers and also find out the strange man haunting her dreams and thoughts. However, going would mean that she would leave her friends and family behind. How could she know for certain that Mahoutokoro existed, that it wasn't a big hoax, that Hiiragizawa really was "actually her father's age", and that magic really existed? The letter didn't leave a phone number or address either, which made it even more suspicious. After all, weren't letters supposed to have a return address? She tapped her fingers against the desk, staring intently at the letter. Finally in her frustration, she crumbled it up into a ball and threw it into the trash, then went to go brush her teeth before bed.

That night as she slept, her trashcan glowed a soft golden color. The letter she had crumbled up into a ball began to straighten itself out and floated back to her desk, its glow disappearing once it had arrived at its destination.

"Hoeee!" Sakura cried as she jolted out of bed after knocking her alarm clock over and seeing the time on the clock read 7:45. She only had 15 minutes to get to school! Quickly she changed into her school uniform and grabbed her bookbag, not noticing the letter on her desk in her rush. She ran downstairs and quickly ate the meal her father made, nearly choking, and graciously accepted the bento he held out for her.

"Arigatou, otou-san!" she said as she went over to the front door and quickly strapped on her rollerblades. "I'm leaving!"

"Have a safe trip," Fujitaka responded back with a smile and a wave before closing the door.

As expected, Sakura got a detention due to being five minutes late. She hung her head low after Terada scolded her, then went to her seat and put her head down on her desk.

"Hoee…"

Tomoyo looked at her friend and giggled.

"I wonder where the magic stone has gone," Sakura read in literature class. "The magic stone…hold it and wondrous powers are yours to command, it's said. My country has been fighting its neighbor for a long time over it."

"Thank you, Kinomoto-san," Mizuno-sensei, their literature class teacher, replied. "Ikeuchi-san, please continue."

The student sitting in front of Sakura nodded and stood up. "If only there was no such thing as war. And the magic stone that causes war is probably better off gone than in someone's hands…"

Sakura unwrapped her bento at lunch while sitting in a circle with her friends and marveled at the food her dad packed for her.

"Sakura-chan, that looks delicious! Your father's a really great cook," Naoko commented.

Sakura beamed as she slipped her chopsticks out of its wrapper. "Arigatou!"

Tomoyo leaned in close to her friend's ear and whispered, "Did you make your decision yet?"

Sakura shook her head. "Not yet, but I crumpled the paper and threw it into the trash last night in my frustration. I should probably take it out and make my decision today, since it's the last day," she whispered back.

"Tomoyo-chan, are you going to join the choir again?" Chiharu asked.

Tomoyo nodded. "Of course! Try-outs are after school today."

"Good luck with that, Tomoyo-chan," Sakura encouraged.

Tomoyo beamed. "Arigatou, Sakura-chan!"

To act as moral support for her best friend, Sakura stayed behind after school and waited outside the music classroom as Tomoyo auditioned for the school choir. From the hallway, she could hear Tomoyo's lovely, sweet voice ring throughout the music classroom as she sang a song in Latin, her pronunciation of the language impeccable. A minute later, the door to the music room slid open and Tomoyo stepped out. Sakura clapped vigorously.

"That was really good, Tomoyo-chan!" she commented.

Tomoyo smiled. "Arigatou!"

They walked on home, with Tomoyo taking a detour when they came to a fork in the road, as her house was in a different direction than Sakura's. Sakura waved goodbye to her friend before continuing forward towards her house. She did the usual routine of checking the whiteboard for any important memos, and written next to her name was the message "get groceries". She then went up to her room to put her bookbag away, but when she slung her bookbag over her chair, she noticed with astonishment that the letter was sitting there on her desk, freshly straightened out and looking like it hadn't ever been crumpled. A frown adorned her face as she grabbed the letter and stared hard at it. Hadn't she tossed it away last night? How was it back on her desk? To experiment, Sakura crumpled the paper up again and threw it outside her window, feeling bad for littering but she had to be sure of something. She then went over to her bed and sat there, staring intently at the open window. For a few seconds, nothing happened, and by the time a minute passed, still nothing happened. Slamming the window shut, she changed out of her school uniform into a pink T-shirt and black shorts and was about to leave her room to get groceries when she suddenly sensed a strange presence. Spinning around, she saw the letter shooting through the glass of the closed window, glowing a soft golden yellow, and land on her desk. With a shriek, Sakura dropped to her knees and stared at the letter in horror.

"G-g-g-g-g-ghost!" she yelped, pointing a shaking finger at the letter.

_Not a ghost._

"Hoe?" Sakura glanced around in confusion. Where was the voice coming from? To her surprise, the letter floated into the air and flew over to her face, which didn't exactly help calm the poor girl much. Instead, she scooted backwards until her back was against the door, her green eyes wide with fear.

"HOEEEE!"

'_Make your decision, Miss Kinomoto. Do not fear', _the voice said again. Sakura didn't realize that it was coming from the letter itself and that the voice belonged to Eriol Hiiragizawa. Apparently he had bewitched the letter to remind her to make a decision on the last day.

She quickly turned around and threw the door to her bedroom open, then shut it quickly behind her as she ran downstairs. '_This isn't happening, this isn't happening,'_ she thought frantically to herself as she shakily took the grocery money her dad left her on the kitchen counter, along with the list of things he wanted her to buy. '_I'll just do the grocery shopping and when I return, everything will be back to normal…yes, that should do it.' _

She stepped into cream-colored flats and went out the door to head to the market. Inside the large, brightly-lit market filled with people, Sakura felt safer as she went through the aisles and produce section, buying everything on the list.

"Eggs…milk…lettuce…" she said happily to herself as she checked off the items she already had in her cart. At the checkout line, she gave the money to the cashier before continuing on her merry way back home, with two bags of groceries in hand. When she got home, her dad and older brother were waiting for her.

"I'm home!" she announced. "Sorry I took so long!"

"Were you meeting with other monsters, monster?" Touya teased. Sakura set the bags of groceries down and stormed over to her brother.

"I AM NOT A MONSTER!" she snarled angrily, sending a kick to his shins. Touya's eyes bulged out as he gasped in pain.

"Thank you for getting the groceries, Sakura," Fujitaka said. "I've made dinner, so go sit down."

Sakura beamed and nodded. "Un!"

"Sakura, today's your last day to respond to the letter, right?" Fujitaka asked.

Sakura nodded slowly, setting her chopsticks down as she stared down at her half-empty bowl of rice. "Y-yeah…"

"Have you decided?"

Sakura shook her head. "I'm still confused about it all. I still refuse to believe that I have magic inside me. Nothing has happened to make me believe such a thing, and I don't want to go leaping off rooftops to find out whether I do possess magical powers or not." She then stood up, pushing her half-eaten bowl of rice away from her. "I'm not hungry anymore. Thanks for the meal." She turned and left the table and headed up to her room. Immediately she flung herself onto her bed and clutched her pillow tightly as she buried her face in it.

"How am I supposed to know?" she whispered softly to herself. "And even if I do have magic, how can I leave everyone behind?" She closed her eyes, the action of it starting another vision. This time, Sakura was standing in a dark area lit up by candles. In the vision, she saw herself slowly reaching out towards a stone in the wall and slowly removing it to reveal a red book. The Sakura in her vision took hold of the red book with an image of a winged lion on the front cover. There was a pinging noise, and then the scenery changed. Now she saw herself standing in the courtyard, next to a tiny golden bear-like creature with a tail and wings, and what looked like Tarot cards floating around her. A magic circle appeared underneath dream Sakura's feet as she lifted a pink staff high into the air and shouted something that Sakura couldn't comprehend. The vague vision ended there, and Sakura wearily opened her eyes and sat up.

_What a weird dream_, she thought to herself as she rubbed her eyes. _How long have I been sleeping for? _The clock read 8:15, so she hadn't been asleep for long. She concluded that she must have dozed off for 10 minutes at best. Her eyes cautiously went over to the letter on her table, narrowing in suspicion. If she indeed had magic…then were her dreams going to come true? In her latest short dream, she had seen herself using what appeared to be magic. Was that the hidden magic that Mizuki-sensei and Hiiragizawa-sensei had mentioned? She didn't know, but that vision of her with a golden circle appearing under her feet was enough to convince her that maybe, just maybe, she did possess magical powers. However, she had to be sure. Closing her eyes, she sought out the voice which had been haunting her.

_Stranger-san, please answer my thoughts. Do I really have magic? What is it that you want with me? _

She waited for a few seconds. Then, a response came.

_I am delighted that you have decided to seek me out. Yes, the magic inside you is weak, but it has potential to grow even stronger. You have the ability to unlock something that I want, my cherry blossom. Come to Mahoutokoro, and all your questions will be answered. I shall be waiting for you…_

Sakura's eyes snapped open as the voice broke into a sinister laugh. She got the answer she needed, but she didn't like how the voice sounded so…evil. Her hand grasped her chin as she went deep into thought. Mahoutokoro was in Japan, right? Perhaps…perhaps she could ask them if she could go home on weekends. Yes, then she would feel better about it all, and it would be like Touya going off to college and coming home on the weekends. Tomoyo had also encouraged her to go, saying that it was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. Sakura got off her bed and walked over to her desk, taking hold of the letter with shaking hands. She stared intently at it, then nodded with determination. Taking hold of a pink pen, Sakura hesitantly held it over the two checkboxes, briefly deliberating for a bit before marking the checkbox next to "Yes, I will attend Mahoutokoro" with a small pink X, then squeezed her eyes shut and turned away, unsure of what would happen. She then cautiously opened one eye to take a peek, and watched as the first page then slowly faded away from existence. Her pen dropped from her hand to the floor, and she collapsed onto her knees. She had done it. Her decision was made up. She was going to go to Mahoutokoro. Upon realization over what she had done, Sakura shrieked.

"HOOOOEEEEEEEEEE!"

* * *

"So it seems like Kinomoto-san has made her decision," Kaho commented as Sakura's letter appeared on the desk, with a pink X written into the checkbox next to the decision to attend Mahoutokoro. Eriol sat on a large red chair behind a large, wooden desk filled with papers and books. Behind him were several bookshelves with rows and rows of books, reaching several feet tall. He clasped his hands in his lap and smiled. Things were certainly going to be interesting from now on.

"So it seems," he replied as he got up from his seat and went to stand in front of the large window on one of the walls, staring out into the courtyard below. In a few more days, the courtyard would be filled with new and continuing students, the halls of Mahoutokoro to be filled with life once more. "And it seems we have another Li joining us."

"Does that bother you, Eriol?" Kaho asked.

Eriol smiled at her. "Not in the least. I actually think this is going to be quite interesting."

"I feel bad for Sakura-chan, though," a tall woman with long brown hair and a hime cut replied. "Did you have to bewitch the letter like that? She was so frightened!"

"I did not know that she was afraid of ghosts," Eriol admitted. "I regretted that after I saw her terrified face in the Looking Room." The Looking Room was a private place in the back of his office where he could look into a large pool on the floor and see what was going on. "Anyway, Sakura-san doesn't know where to go shopping for her school supplies. Nakuru-san, would you do the honor?"

The brown-haired girl smiled cheerfully. "Hai!"

Meanwhile, in a large mansion, a young boy with golden brown hair and blue eyes smirked as he twirled a long, black rod with a pointy tip on top of three smaller spheres resting on top of a larger sphere surrounded by 3 overlapping rings, standing in the middle of a large study and staring up at the moon through the large, spacious windows.

"We shall meet soon, my dear Sakura."

* * *

A/N: Chapter 2 done! Looks like Sakura has finally made her decision. Who is this mysterious person, and what is it that he wants Sakura to do? How does he know who Sakura is?

Also, let me explain why I said "two days passed and Sakura had only a day left to reply to the letter." She began school on a Monday, and received news about Mahoutokoro the same day. She then told Tomoyo about it the day after, on Tuesday. Two days passed, making it Thursday at the beginning of this chapter. Friday would've been her last day to make her decision. I revised the previous chapter to specify that when Eriol said "by the end of the week", he meant "by the end of the school week."


	4. Kaimono ni ikou!

Chapter 3: Kaimono ni ikou!

When Touya found out that Sakura had accepted the invitation, he was rather livid and yelled at her to change her mind, but Sakura argued back that what's done was done, and that the letter vanished as soon as she made her decision, leaving her with just the supply list.

"But I don't know where I would go shopping for the supplies," she sighed. "I don't have any friends with magical powers, and I'm sure I can't find what I need in an ordinary shop around here."

"Did it say anything on the supply list about where you can go?" Fujitaka asked.

Sakura shook her head, turning the list over to the other side. "Nope. It's just the supply list on one side. I don't see anything on the other side. Ah well, I'm gonna figure it out tomorrow. Oh, yeah, I need to call Tomoyo-chan and tell her about my decision. I promised her that I would." She then ran back up the stairs to her room and dialed Tomoyo's number.

"Sakura-chan, what is it?" Tomoyo's eager voice asked on the other end.

Sakura rocked back and forth as she sat cross-legged on her bed. "Ano…Tomoyo-chan…I made my decision."

"And what did you decide?"

Sakura hesitated for a moment. "I decided…that I would attend the school."

She heard a squeal on the other end. "Congrats, Sakura-chan!"

Sakura smiled wistfully. "But…aren't you sad that I won't be able to see you again for a whole year, except maybe during the breaks?"

"Of course," Tomoyo responded, "But I think that this is something that Sakura-chan should be a part of. Whatever makes Sakura-chan happy will also make me happy."

Sakura smiled softly to herself. She unfolded her legs and laid back on the bed, the phone still up to her ear. "I want to find out more about myself, like how did I happen to possess magical powers when otou-san doesn't have magical powers, and I don't think okaasan did either. I never asked oniichan about that. I've also been getting…strange dreams about a cloaked man telling me that I'm the key to finding something he wants. I want to find out who this man is, and what is it that he wants me to do. That's something I can't investigate here."

On the other end, Tomoyo listened quietly as Sakura spoke her worries and thoughts to her. When Sakura finished, indicated by a long pause in the conversation, Tomoyo said, "I'm sure that whatever you do, you'll figure something out. If it's you, I'm sure everything will be fine. Anyway, if you need to go shopping for anything for the new school supply, let me know! I wanna go shopping with you! Oh, and I want you to try on some clothes that I designed for you!"

Sakura laughed nervously. "Ehehehe…hoeee…"

* * *

"Hmm…" Syaoran stopped in front of a shop called Menagerie of Japan and observed the animals in cages. His eyes fell on a tiny green miniature dragon, feebly trying to look tough but only puffing out little balls of fire. In Europe, the sale of dragons was forbidden, but in East Asia, especially China, dragons were especially revered. He pointed to the dragon's cage.

"I would like to purchase this," he said to the shopkeeper.

"Ah, yes, that would be 10 Kinos," the shopkeeper replied. Syaoran handed the shopkeeper the appropriate amount of money, then took the cage with the tiny dragon and walked out of the shop. He glanced at the list, noticing that one of the supplies he needed to get was "a wand or a staff." He scoffed; he could just use his magical Chinese jian that had been passed to him from his father. After all, didn't his father wield the sword when he attended Mahoutokoro? He headed to the bookshop to purchase his books for the upcoming school year, entrusting his butler Wei to look after his new pet dragon.

* * *

"You're so adorable, Sakura-chan!" Tomoyo squealed the next day after school. She had invited Sakura over to her house and was making Sakura try on her outfits. When Tomoyo saw the list of what Sakura had to bring, she pointed out to Sakura that she didn't need to buy the robes or cloaks, that she could just make it herself since she had the supplies anyway. Sakura could only smile nervously; would the teachers at Mahoutokoro take offense if Tomoyo added her own flair to the cloak and robes? She stood in front of the mirror, wearing a dark blue bell-shaped dress with a star in the middle and a tall, dark blue pointed hat also decorated with stars. On her feet were matching knee-length boots. She blanched at her reflection.

"T-Tomoyo-chan…" Once again, her friend had gone overboard with her designs. _Well,_ Sakura thought, _At least it doesn't have too many bows and frills. _

The doorbell then rang. Sakura looked at Tomoyo. "Was your mom expecting any visitors?"

Tomoyo shook her head. "No."

_Tap! Tap! Tap! _A series of knocks rattled against Tomoyo's bedroom door.

"Yes?" Tomoyo called politely.

"Miss Tomoyo, there's a guest at the door asking for Miss Sakura," a female voice replied.

"Thank you, Miss Bodyguard," Tomoyo replied. She turned to look at Sakura, who only nodded, indicating that she had heard. Together, the two of them descended the stairs down to the first floor, where a tall woman with long brown hair and brown eyes stood waiting for them. Sakura figured she couldn't be any older than her late teens or early twenties. She beamed when she saw Sakura.

"Ah, it's Sakura-chan! You look so much cuter in person!" the woman said happily.

Sakura tilted her head to one side. "Hoe?"

"I'm Nakuru," the woman introduced. "Akizuki Nakuru! I'm Eriol's guardian." She looked at Tomoyo and smiled. "And you are?"

"I'm Daidouji Tomoyo," Tomoyo responded, bowing forward respectfully. "I'm Sakura-chan's best friend."

"Ah, her best friend is adorable as well!" Nakuru grinned.

"Guardian?" Sakura asked incredulously. What did that mean? "So, you're also from that school?"

"Yep!" Nakuru said cheerfully.

"So um…what magic can you do?" Sakura asked nervously.

Nakuru smiled. "Well, I can shoot crystals out of my hand to use as a weapon, but I have to be in my other form first."

"Your…other form?" Sakura asked slowly, tilting her head.

Nakuru nodded excitedly. "Yep! But you will find out about that in due time. Eriol doesn't want me to show you my other form just yet. Anyway, let's go shopping!"

Sakura glanced over at Tomoyo. "Um, is it okay if Tomoyo-chan comes along?"

"Sure thing," Nakuru said brightly. "After all, a lot of Himahouko—that's what we call magical born into nonmagical families here—bring their Himahoujin—that means nonmagical people— parents with them when they go shopping for new supplies, along with a teacher from the school, because they're scared and don't know what to expect. For you, I've been assigned to be your guide."

"Himahou…ko…" Sakura said slowly. She wondered why these magical people couldn't just refer to nonmagical people as just that—nonmagical people, rather than make up a silly term that didn't even exist in the Japanese dictionary. She remembered Eriol saying something about how in England, they called Himahouko "Muggle-borns", and didn't think that existed in the English dictionary either, even though she didn't have a good grasp of the English language itself. However, she pushed the thought to the back of her head when it dawned on her that Nakuru had approved of Tomoyo coming along. Tomoyo immediately whipped out her video camera from seemingly out of nowhere and squealed,

"I can film Sakura on her shopping trip! I think I will call this one "Sakura's Magical Shopping Trip! Ohohoho!"

The corners of Sakura's mouth twitched as she shrank back from the dark-haired girl. "H-hoee…"

"Well, let's get going! We don't want to waste any more time," Nakuru said. "Sakura-chan, you take my hand, and Tomoyo-chan, take Sakura-chan's hand."

Sakura looked at her friend for confirmation. Tomoyo nodded and took hold of her hand, and Sakura placed her other hand in Nakuru's. Before Sakura knew it, she felt a strange sensation bubbling up inside her stomach. It felt like...like…

'_Like I'm being sucked into a tiny hole_,' Sakura thought with horror as she squeezed her eyes shut and let out a scream. "HOOEEEEE!"

Within a matter of seconds, she found herself in the middle of a busy street made of cobblestones with shops on both sides of the street, with people going in and out of each shop. Unlike the shops in Tomoeda, the shops here seemed very old-fashioned. Next to her, Tomoyo immediately held her video camera up to her face and began recording, focusing the camcorder's lens on Sakura's awed face.

"This is amazing! I get to film Sakura-chan's first magical shopping adventure!"

"Ho-hoee…" Sakura turned red.

Nakuru smiled brightly and said, "Welcome to Juryoku-ken! This is the main shopping district for students attending Mahoutokoro." She extended her arms out and slightly twisted her body to the left and to the right, her hands gesturing to the buildings and shops that surrounded them. Her arms then lowered as she continued,

"First things first, we need to visit Madoka Ginkou."

Tomoyo furrowed her eyes. "But why? We have money with us."

"Yes, but you see, in the magical world, we have our own form of currency," Nakuru explained. "Our currency are Kinos, Seidou, and Hatsuken. 1 Kino is equal to 10 Seidou, and 10 Seidou is equal to 100 Hatsuken. Converting wizarding money into Himahoujin money is tricky, so us folks just deal with our own currency."

Sakura nodded, but inside, she was confused. Now she had to get used to handling wizarding currency, too? Nakuru didn't notice this, and happily escorted the two of them to a large building made out of wood and a red roof that had the architectural style of roofs found on pagodas. When they entered, Sakura realized that it was much, much, much bigger than it appeared from the outside, and much more modern-looking than its exterior made it look. The floors were polished marble, with a fountain featuring koi fish spitting water out of its mouth in the center of the bank. High, chestnut walls formed a horseshoe shape around the bank, behind which the bank employees were seated. Tomoyo lowered her video camera in case videotaping in a wizarding bank was not allowed. Nakuru beckoned the two of them to follow her as she walked forward towards the other side of the bank, where the wall there was much higher than those adjacent to it. A short balding man with white hair didn't look up from his work as he asked monotonously,

"May I help you?"

"Yes; Kinomoto Sakura-san here would like to exchange Himahoujin currency for our currency."

"Very well. How much would Kinomoto-san like to convert into wizarding money?" the man pressed.

Sakura flushed as she took out her wallet and flipped through it. "Um…would 1100 yen be enough?" she asked as she handed over a note and a 100 yen coin piece. She didn't carry much yen with her as she felt that carrying too much money on her person would be unnecessary. The teller put her currency away into a drawer and drew out some wizarding currency, handing them over to Sakura. "Right, here are 20 Kinos, 2 Seidous, and 16 Hatsuken."

Sakura smiled as she collected her new wizarding money from the bank teller. "Thank you very much!" she said, giving a small bow before turning away from the counter and joining Tomoyo, who was patiently waiting a few feet away. Nakuru ushered them outside just as another family walked into the bank.

"Now you need to purchase your textbooks," Nakuru said.

"How am I supposed to carry all these books?" Sakura asked with horror as she pulled out her supply list and gestured to it with her other hand. She couldn't fathom carrying more than 2 textbooks!

"Oh don't worry, we'll just ship them to Mahoutokoro for you," Nakuru explained. "They'll be held in storage until you get sorted."

"Sorted?" Sakura asked.

"You'll see," Nakuru said with a wink. "Anyway, let's go into 'Fujiko and Haruto'. It's the name of the bookstore here in Juryoku-ken, where students purchase their textbooks." She then led the way, walking ahead of the two middle schoolers. Sakura and Tomoyo exchanged glances with each other before following after the giddy older woman. Sakura liked Nakuru; she was nice and energetic, just like her. They came to a shop with a wide, spacious window, displaying a brand new book on sale by some author named Sawajiri Jun. From the window, rows and rows of bookshelves could also be seen from outside, and the appearance of a long line of young people, most likely students, waiting to purchase their books for the upcoming school year.

Sakura pressed her hands against the window and breathed, "Wow!" She then went over to the door and grasped the knob to open it. The door swung inwards, which was quite a design flaw, because the next thing she knew, she heard a yelp of a pain and something hitting the ground. Her hands flew up to her mouth as she saw a brown haired boy sitting there on his bottom, rubbing his head while wincing in pain. His bag lay awkwardly to his side while a few books were strewn around him. He slowly raised his furious amber eyes to Sakura's as he picked himself up and dusted himself off. As he gathered up his fallen textbooks, he snarled at the girl,

"How dare you!"

"I-I'm sorry!" Sakura squeaked. She was afraid of this kid, even though he looked to be around her age. "I-I didn't mean…I didn't know…"

"What's your name?" Syaoran demanded.

"K-Kinomoto S-Sakura," Sakura stammered, taking a step back.

"Kinomoto? Never heard of that surname before. You must be one of those Himahouko," the boy sneered. "Worthless beings they are."

Sakura's eyes flashed at this. She was not going to stand around and be insulted by this kid! "Now wait just a minute! Who the hell do you think are? You have no right to insult me like that!" she snapped.

Syaoran smirked. "I do not need to give my name to a worthless person like you. Just know that I come from the most powerful magical family in all of Asia. Now move out of my way." He shoved past Sakura as he rudely exited, making her stumble. Caught by surprise at first, she quickly regained her composure as she shouted after him,

"I HOPE I DON'T END UP IN THE SAME HOUSE AS YOU, MR. ARROGANT!"

Tomoyo came up to her friend with a worried look. "Are you okay?" she asked in a concerned tone.

Sakura nodded. "I think so."

"Well, I can't imagine anyone yelling at such a cute girl like you," a new, unfamiliar voice said brightly. "Looks like that kid woke up on the wrong side of bed today."

Sakura turned around and found herself staring into the most beautiful pair of blue eyes she'd ever seen. Those blue eyes belonged to a boy with golden brown hair and stood a few inches taller than her. For some reason, she couldn't help but feel a _hanyan_ moment when she looked at him. The only other person she had felt a _hanyan_ moment with before was her brother's best friend, Tsukishiro Yukito, who she used to have a childhood crush on before he gently broke her heart by telling her that all she had towards him was a silly childhood crush and nothing more than that, and that he loved someone else. Tomoyo noticed the subtle change in Sakura's attitude and couldn't resist bringing her video camera up to her eyes to begin recording.

"U-um…" Sakura didn't know how to respond to the compliment. "Thank you?" she finally squeaked out.

The boy chuckled. "I'm sorry if I surprised you, Kinomoto-san. I overheard you giving your name to that boy earlier. I'm Kazuya Ryuuji. You can call me Ryuuji if you want, if you would allow me to call you Sakura."

Sakura nodded eagerly. "Okay!" She was happy that she was already making a new friend with someone who was going to be at her new school. Tomoyo lowered her video camera and sighed.

"Oh Sakura-chan, if your friendship with Kazuya-san ever turns out to be more than just that, I don't know how I can live, knowing that you're mere hours away from me and having precious moments that I can't record on camera!"

"H-hoee!" Sakura cried, her face turning red. "Tomoyo-chan!" Bowing profusively to Ryuuji, she murmured, "I'm so sorry, Ryuuji-kun! This is my best friend, Tomoyo-chan."

Tomoyo smiled as she bowed politely before the boy. "Nice to meet you! I'm Daidouji Tomoyo."

"Are you both here to purchase books?" Ryuuji asked.

Sakura shook her head. "No, just me. Tomoyo's not attending Mahoutokoro."

"That's too bad," Ryuuji said with a shake of his head. "Mahoutokoro could use more pretty girls."

"You're a student there?" Sakura asked, her eyes lighting up.

Ryuuji shook his head. "Not yet, but my family has. What about you? Are you new?"

Sakura nodded. "Yes, so I don't know what to expect."

Ryuuji laughed. "Well, I'll be sure to help you out, Sakura, starting with your textbooks. I'm sorry for keeping you. I'm sure you were in a hurry to purchase your books."

Sakura shook her head. "No, it's okay. It was nice talking to you," she said happily.

"Well, I really should get going now. See you at school, Sakura. Or maybe we'll meet again on the trip to our new school," Ryuuji said as he held up a hand in a friendly wave as he turned away from her and walked out the door. Sakura stared after him and smiled as she waved back at his retreating figure. Her waving slowly came to a stop before she took notice of a video camera lens being way too close to the side of her face. Turning red in embarrassment, she squealed,

"T-Tomoyo-chan!"

"Sakura-chan looked so adorable there!" Tomoyo squealed. Sakura groaned in annoyance before heading over to the counter to request her books for the school term as she had seen others before her do.

Once Sakura purchased all her books, she and Tomoyo went outside, where Nakuru was patiently waiting for them. They then went to purchase Sakura's other school supplies before finally coming to a wand shop. The interior of the shop was rather dark, with the only source of light being the beams of sunlight that streamed in through the dusty windowpanes. Sakura went up to the counter, resting her arms on it.

"Hello?" she called. "Is anyone here? I'd like to purchase a wand, please."

There was silence. The sound of something shifting soon followed, followed by the appearance of an old man coming down the stairs leading up to an attic. He saw Sakura and smiled.

"Ah, a customer! I'm Tatsuya Jin, the owner of this shop. Now, which hand is your dominant hand?"

Sakura was confused by the question, but held up her right hand. The old man nodded before proceeding to go over to the bookshelves. He scanned the shelves for a moment before reaching up and withdrawing a long rectangular box from one of the shelves. Opening it as he walked back to Sakura, he presented her a long, reddish brown stick with intricate designs with a dark brown handle.

"This wand is made out of mahogany," he said. "Infused with dragon's blood. Give it a wave."

Sakura nodded as she took the wand from its box and waved it. Immediately, an invisible force sent her flying back. Tomoyo's hands flew to her mouth as she cried, "Sakura-chan!"

"Oh dear, I'm afraid that's not compatible with you!" Jin said as he retrieved the temperamental wand from her. He grabbed another box from the shelf.

"This one's made from birch and infused with hair from an elf."

Sakura warily took hold of the new wand and gave it a wave. This time, the windows shattered. Sakura squeaked in horror as she repeatedly bowed over and over.

"I'm so sorry, I'm so sorry!"

"Don't worry, it happens all the time. You're not the first person to have destroyed my shop trying out new wands," Jin chuckled as he took the wand from her and returned it to its box. He returned the box to its place on the shelves. He tried a wand made out of elm and unicorn hair, a wand made out of rosewood and phoenix feather, and other wands of differing woods infused with the essence of various magical creatures, but they all ended in Sakura wrecking havoc upon his shop. After the 20th one, Sakura felt like all hope was lost. She looked like she wanted to cry when the latest wand he gave her, cherry wood infused with dragon heartstring, nearly blew up his entire shop.

"This is hopeless!" she wailed.

"No, no, I'm sure that I have something for you," Jin said, taking notice of Sakura's sad expression. "It seems like I have been approaching this all wrong. You don't need a wand, at least not the same wand that witches and wizards use."

He went into the back room before returning with a small box. He opened it to reveal three objects. One was pink and gold and looked like a bird's head and resembled a key, the next one was a large sun, and the one next to that was a crescent moon with an orb in the center of the moon's curve.

"These are meant for those with sorcery magic in them. Since you had a difficult time with the wands, I can only assume that you have sorcery magic in you. Go ahead, pick one and give it a try. With sorcery magic, you have to say an incantation to make these reveal their true forms, but if you have sorcery magic in you, the words will come naturally to you."

Sakura nodded and stared at the three objects. For some reason, the one with the bird-like head attracted her, so she grabbed it and held it in her hands.

"Ah, the Sealing Wand," Jin said. "Many sorcerors and sorceresses before you have tried that before, but it was incompatible with them. Some say that this was an artifact left behind by the great Clow Reed himself, the son of two of the founders of Mahoutokoro. What it was for, nobody knows."

Sakura stared at the key in her hand with fascination. What a history! She closed her eyes and breathed slowly. Then, as naturally and easily as talking about the weather with Tomoyo, the words came to her.

"Key that hides the power of darkness, reveal your true form before me! I, Sakura, command it. Release!" An golden circle with a large sun and moon overlapping each other appeared under her feet, casting the entire shop in its golden brightness. Sakura had to close her eyes and turn away from the bright light that emitted from her hands. Even Tomoyo, Nakuru, and Jin had to turn away.

Somewhere far away, beneath the ground and in complete darkness, a red book shook with excitement. It sensed that it would be awakened soon as the magical energy surrounding it vibrated.

Outside the shop, Ryuuji narrowed his eyes. He had stuck around, waiting in anticipation for Sakura to purchase her wand. "I was right, she is the one!" he muttered to himself when he saw a golden glow appearing from inside the shop.

When the light died down, Sakura slowly opened her eyes. To her astonishment, a long, pink stick with the same bird's head, only larger in size, lay in her outstretched hands. Jin stared at her with astonishment.

"Amazing. Simply amazing…" he whispered. "You, Kinomoto-san, are the very first customer to be able to reveal the true form of that key. I've been wondering what it really looked like. Well, since it works for you, congratulations!"

Sakura beamed. "Thank you! Um, how much do I owe you?"

"Ah yes, that would be 5 Kinos," Jin said.

Sakura gave him the appropriate change, then bowed. "Once again, I really am sorry for destroying your shop, Tatsuya-san. Anyway, bye!" She exited the shop with Tomoyo and Nakuru.

Now that they were finished with their shopping, it was time for them to return to Tomoeda. Nakuru transported them back. When they reappeared in Tomoyo's living room, Sakura immediately ran over to the nearest couch and sat down.

"I don't think I'll ever be used to that," she moaned.

Nakuru smiled at her before magically conjuring what looked like a ticket for Sakura. "Be sure to report to the Tokyo International Airport at 9am sharp on April 12th. Your ticket will say Terminal 1, Gate 8, but you should really report to Gate 8F. It should be between Gates 8 and 9. Good luck!" With a wink, Nakuru vanished from sight. Sakura blinked rapidly, staring at the place where Nakuru stood earlier.

"But…there's no such thing as Gate 8F…" Sakura said in confusion.

* * *

A/N: Done with chapter 4! Sorry it took so long, but I've been busy with O-Chem (yes, I'm taking O-chem over summer. Stupid class that I need to take in the fall for my major requiring O-Chem as a damn prerequisite), ugh. Anyway, all the terms I made in this chapter are made up, such as Himahoujin and Himahouko, which are equivalent to Muggles/Muggle-born in the Harry Potter world. I also made up the shop names in Juryoku-ken.

Anyway, since Japan is a series of islands and Mahoutokoro is located on an uncharted island south of Japan, it only makes sense that they would fly to it. There's no way that they can take a train there, haha. The real question is, how will all the new and continuing students fit in? ;) Also, who is Kazuya Ryuuji? What does he mean by "I was right, she is the one"?

Sorry if this chapter seems rushed, I tried my hardest not to do that.


	5. I Can't Do This

Chapter 4: I Can't Do This

Was this enough, or was it too little? Was there anything else she should pack? Sakura stared at the open suitcase on her bed, filled with neatly folded clothes. Next to her suitcase was a large duffel bag. The flight that would take her to Mahoutokoro wasn't until the 12th, and it was only the 8th. She had about 3 more days to say goodbye to her friends and family and inform her school that she was leaving. Her eyes glanced over to the window as she wistfully stared past the glass. What would her classmates think? Tomoyo already knew, but her classmates didn't know she was going to a school for magical people. She couldn't tell just anyone about the fact that she somehow possessed magic. She wanted to inform her classmates that she would be leaving earlier that day at school, but she couldn't bring herself to do it. Zipping her suitcase closed, she gently set it down on the floor beside her bed before sitting down on said bed cross-legged. Her fingers gingerly traveled up to her neck and then reached inside her uniform top, emerging with a pink and gold bird head hanging off a golden chain. She glanced at it, toying with it between her fingers. Even now, it seemed all so surreal. Before, Sakura still had small doubts that she possessed magic, small doubts that magic beyond cheap magician tricks existed, and doubts that Mahoutokoro existed. But after going to Juryoku-ken yesterday with Nakuru, another person who supposedly went to Mahoutokoro, and Tomoyo, and also meeting two boys around her age who supposedly were Mahoutokoro students, she realized that Mahoutokoro was real. The incident at the wand shop was also an indicator to her that she possessed magic. It wasn't every day that a glowing circle with strange symbols appeared under your feet, or that a key would change into a long pink stick with an enlarged bird head at the top. Would she be able to do it again? Holding her key out in front of her, she closed her eyes and let the words come to her lips. Just like before, she didn't need to think about them, they just came naturally, as if she was meant to possess what Jin, the wand shop owner, called The Sealing Wand.

"Key that hides the power of darkness, reveal your true form before me. I, Sakura, command you under contract. Release!"

Just like the day before, a golden circle with an overlapping sun and moon and various Chinese characters appeared underneath her feet. A strange, tingling feeling washed over her petite body as she felt the key in the palm of her hand vibrating vigorously, then spin rapidly around. With a powerful explosion of magical energy, it was soon replaced by a long pink rod with an enlarged bird-like head. The golden circle disappeared from under her feet. Her room came back into view. Sakura stared in wonder at the Sealing Wand in her hand. Once again, she did it. But what purpose did this Sealing Wand have? Why had she been chosen to wield it? Jin had said she was the first since some magician named Clow Reed to be able to use it. But why? She absentmindedly twirled the Sealing Wand in her fingers as if it was a baton.

"Sakura, dinner!" she heard Fujitaka call from downstairs. Sakura stopped twirling the Sealing Wand and returned it to its key form. She still didn't know how she did it—she just wished for it to return to its smaller form and it obliged.

"Coming!" she called. She fastened the Sealing Wand, though it should be called a Sealing Key now, back around the golden chain around her neck. Then she left her bedroom and ran downstairs into the kitchen. The table was set with dishes of various food, including her favorite: fried shrimp. Fujitaka set the final dish on the table before sitting down. Sakura sat down at her usual place and marveled at the food.

"Sugoi!" she cried, clapping her hands together. Since Touya had returned to college, being that the weekends were over, it was just her and her dad. "Itadakimasu!" With her chopsticks, she picked off two fried shrimp off one of the dishes and set them on her own plate, then helped herself to some rice.

"How was your day today, Sakura?" Fujitaka asked her.

Sakura beamed at him. "It was great, dad! We had cheer practice today and I didn't hit my head with a baton this time."

"That's wonderful," Fujitaka beamed. "Oh, Sakura, have you informed your school that you…?" His voice trailed off.

Sakura caught what he meant and shook her head, staring down at her plate. "No. Not yet."

"It's better to tell them now than later," her father told her kindly.

"But how can I?" Sakura asked, raising her eyes to meet Fujitaka's. "Otou-san, I don't see how I can announce that I'm suddenly leaving even though I've just started last week. Tomoyo-chan already knows, but the others…and I don't know how to break it to the cheer squad either."

Fujitaka smiled at her. "I'm sure you'll find a way. Now let's just enjoy dinner, hmm?"

Sakura nodded. "Hai."

After both of them finished dinner, Fujitaka went to his study while Sakura was left to wash the dishes. Slipping on a pair of rubber gloves, she set off to work as she turned on the water. She grabbed a sponge and squeezed a small amount of dish soap onto it. Then she grabbed a plate and ran it under the running water before scrubbing away at it with the sponge.

"Wind of beginnings, deliver this message because I will always believe in you," Sakura sang lightly to herself as she washed the dishes. Once she was done washing the dishes and putting them in the dishwasher to dry, she wiped her hands on a dishcloth and went back up to her room. She did her homework, but soon she grew tired and changed into pajamas and brushed her teeth before she retreated to bed. Before she snuggled under the covers, she turned off the lights.

Sakura still didn't have the guts to inform the school that she wouldn't be with them for the rest of the school year. How could she tell them she was going to transfer over to a different school? She felt like that would be a betrayal. At lunchtime, Tomoyo took her to the school roof so they could talk in private.

"Sakura-chan, you're going to have to tell the school soon, you know. What will happen if you suddenly go missing?" she asked.

Sakura buried her face in her hands in response. "I don't know," she admitted. "I've finally accepted that maybe, just maybe, I have magic in me, especially after witnessing what happened at the Tatsuya-san's shop. But it's still hard. You know I'm not good at being the bearer of bad news."

"Then, shall I do the honors for you?" Tomoyo asked.

Sakura widened her eyes. She threw her hands up in front of her and waved them frantically while shaking her head from side to side. "N-no, then I'd be called a coward!" She sighed, letting her hands come to rest on her lap. "If I had gotten the letter before school started, things would have been a lot easier. Is it too late to back out now?"

"You've already purchased your books and supplies for Mahoutokoro," Tomoyo pointed out.

Sakura silently nodded in agreement. The school bell rang then. It was time to go back to class. Tomoyo stood up first.

"You coming, Sakura-chan?" she asked.

Sakura looked over at her dark-haired friend and smiled. "Mm. You go on ahead, I need just a moment."

Tomoyo shot her friend a worried glance before passing through the door that would take her back inside the school building. Sakura sighed as she stood up and walked over to the mesh fencing that surrounded the perimeter of the school roof and grasped them in her fingers as she stared out over the horizon. After today, there would only be two more days until she had to go to Mahoutokoro.

'_Having doubts, my dear Sakura?'_

Sakura blinked and glanced around. That voice! Where was it coming from? When she saw no one on the roof with her, she furrowed her eyebrows in confusion.

"That's strange," she murmured to herself. "I thought I heard someone…oh well, must be my imagination then."

'_That was no imagination, Sakura. I am communicating with you through your mind.'_

Sakura widened her eyes. Her grip on the fencing tightened as she closed her eyes.

'_Who are you?_' she thought back. _'How do you know me?'_

'_Don't worry, child, you'll find out soon enough. Now tell me, what doubts about our wonderful school do you have? Or do you have doubts for yourself?'_

Sakura found it very peculiar that she was having a conversation with a voice inside her head. "I'm scared…of leaving my friends and family behind," she admitted softly. "I'm still wondering, why me? I'm not special or anything like that. How did I, a normal thirteen year old girl, come to possess magic? Why didn't I learn about this in the past twelve years of my life? And then there's you! Somehow you know me, but I don't know you. I…"

'_Ah, the typical feelings of Himahouko,'_ the voice snickered. _'But don't worry, sweet cherry blossom. I'll be your friend at Mahoutokoro. I'll make all doubts of yours go away. Just follow me and you will be fine.' _

Sakura frowned. "Really?" she asked.

'_Of course!' _

Sakura frowned. Should she really trust a strange voice that was invading her mind? She pursed her lips tightly. "I'll think about it. Hold on…now that I think about it, your voice sounds rather familiar. Have we met before?"

'_Maybe, maybe not. I don't think I should reveal myself to you this early in the game. It spoils the…fun and surprise. Anyway, I'll be taking my leave now so you can hurry back to class. Wouldn't want your Himahoujin friend worrying about you, would you?' _

And then just as quickly as it had invaded her thoughts, the voice disappeared. Sakura blinked in confusion as one hand went up to her uniform shirt and gripped it tightly as she thought about the conversation that had transpired just a few seconds earlier. Then remembering that she had class to go to, she widened her eyes and went through the door and down the flight of stairs.

"Okay, next!" Terada-sensei called. Sakura took a deep breath and stepped forward to the mat. Turning around so that her back to the mat, she raised her arms straight up above her head, then arched her back and went into a series of back handsprings until she reached the end of the long mat. Her classmates clapped for her as Sakura rubbed the back of her head and grinned sheepishly before sitting back down and letting the next person go. The beginners just did cartwheels, while those who were advanced in tumbling like her showed off more advanced moves.

By the end of the day, Sakura still hadn't told anyone that she would be going away. She shot Tomoyo an apologetic look as they walked home, or rather, Tomoyo walked and Sakura skated.

"Gomen, Tomoyo-chan," she said.

Tomoyo simply smiled back. "You still have another two more days to go. Don't worry, Sakura-chan, I'm sure you'll find the courage to inform our class about it."

Sakura clasped her hands together and nervously pressed them against her chin as she skated forward. "What if I don't? Hoeee, this is more complicated than I thought!"

"My my, our dear Sakura's only making things harder on herself," Eriol chuckled as he watched her walk home with Tomoyo through a looking glass. "You only have two days left, Sakura-san. What will you do?"

Sakura found herself back in the same courtyard she was the night she had found out she had been accepted to Mahoutokoro, before she made her decision to attend the magical school. Like out of a typical shoujo anime, cherry blossom petals softly drifted down from the cherry tree she stood next to, swirling around her as they made their way to the ground. Sensing she was not alone, she spun around to come face to face with the same cloaked figure who had been in her dreams before.

"You again," she breathed, keeping her distance. "Who are you? What do you want from me?"

The figure said nothing, but merely took a step towards her. Sakura instinctively took a step back. This little game continued until Sakura found herself pressed up against the corner of the walls, trapped with nowhere to go. The cloaked figure smirked and closed the distance between himself and the trapped girl. Sakura yelped when she saw how fast he was closing the distance between them and shut her eyes, turning her head away. When she felt fingers grasping her chin, she opened her eyes in shock as the hand gripping her chin slowly forced her to face forward, to look at the figure before her. She found herself staring into blue eyes once again, their piercing stare boring into her emerald eyes.

"Soon…very soon," the figure murmured.

Sakura frowned in confusion. "W-what do you mean by that? Tell me, what do you want with me?"

"The raw, hidden magic radiating from within you…it's truly delicious!" The figure did not answer her question, but rather spoke his own thoughts out loud. Sakura threw her arms out in front of her and tried to push the cloaked figure away, but swiftly, his hands closed around her small wrists, preventing her from being able to do anything. She struggled, but he refused to let go of her; instead, he leaned in and gave her a kiss on her forehead. The act stunned her into submission as she stopped struggling, her eyes wide in disbelief. She glanced up, confused, into the cloaked figure's eyes, her eyes yearning for questions to be answered. However, the mysterious figure merely just smirked at her.

"Time to wake up," he murmured into her ears. Sakura's eyes widened as she felt his breath tickle her ear as everything around her began to get distorted. The last thing she heard before she felt herself being ejected from the courtyard and her dream was "I trust that you will tie up loose ends today."

BEEP BEEP BEEP!

"Hoeee!" Sakura blindly swiped at her ringing alarm clock, knocking it over onto her bed. She grabbed it and pounded the top of it to turn it off. With a yawn, she glanced at the clock. 7:30. Today was a good day—she didn't oversleep! Quickly she changed into her school uniform and ran downstairs.

"Ohayou, otou-san!" she greeted cheerfully as she swung her knapsack around her chair. Her father smiled at her.

"Ohayou, Sakura."

"Ohayou, okaa-san!" The cheerful girl greeted a photograph of a beautiful woman with dark, curly hair and a stunning smile. This was Nadeshiko Kinomoto, who unfortunately died when Sakura was only 3. After greeting the picture of her mother, Sakura sat down as Fujitaka set a tray containing a bowl of rice, a bowl of miso soup, and a plate with an egg sunny side up, lettuce, two octopus-shaped hot dogs, and strawberries.

"Here you go," he said.

Sakura beamed. "Looks delicious! Itadakimasu!" She dug in, savoring the taste of the meal set before her. It wasn't every day that she could enjoy her dad's cooking at breakfast like this, since usually she was rushing off to school and ate her breakfast in a hurry. As Sakura finished up the last food item on her plate, which happened to be the strawberries, Fujitaka held a box wrapped up in a pink cloth out to his daughter.

"Here you go!"

Sakura smiled as she gratefully took her carefully wrapped bento from her dad. "Thanks, otou-san! I'll be going now!" She made her way to the front door and strapped on her skates. "Ittekimasu!"

"Have a safe trip!" Fujitaka called as Sakura skated out past the front gate of their house.

The route Sakura took to get to Tomoeda Junior High was lined on each side by blooming cherry blossoms. Soon, these cherry blossoms would wither away to be replaced by fresh green leaves. Sakura sighed happily as she skated past these beautiful blossoms, holding her hands out in front of her as stray cherry blossom petals softly cascaded down, the fragile blossoms unable to stay attached to the branches of the cherry trees for too long. To Sakura, being showered with cherry blossoms seemed magical. At that moment, Sakura remembered her strange dream of being in the courtyard again with the mysterious cloaked figure. She didn't get a good feeling from him, yet at the same time, she couldn't help but notice that he had been…rather loving towards her? It was all so confusing. Just who was he? When was she going to find out who he was? And then there was his final message before she woke up. What did he mean?

Sakura finally reached the school and saw her best friend waiting for her. She waved as Tomoyo came running over.

"You're early today, Sakura-chan!" Tomoyo said cheerfully.

Sakura nodded. "Mm!"

"I can't do it. I just can't do it. I'm a coward," Sakura mumbled to herself as she threw herself onto her bed later that afternoon once she got home from school. "Why is it so hard?" The worst part was, she only had one more day to tell everyone that she would be leaving! The day after that, she would need to get to the airport and board the plane to Mahoutokoro.

From far away, someone chuckled quietly. "Looks like she didn't tie up loose ends like I told her to. Oh my little cherry blossom, you're only making everything harder on yourself. However, don't despair anymore. I'll take matters into my hands now." Raising his staff into the air, he exerted his magical energy into it, making it glow. At the same time, his blue eyes glowed as he cast some strange magic into the air, letting the energy radiate out and dissipate.

* * *

A/N: Thanks to all those who have reviewed!

Miharu Tsubaki: the only problem with your suggestion is that my vocabulary isn't so great, so I can't help but use what you consider "everyday" words when describing stuff. ^^; Even though I read a lot, I can't think of complicated vernacular on the spot.

Anyway, you may have noticed that Sakura is struggling with how to tell her school that she will be leaving in two days. With only one day left to tell them, as she would have to be at Tokyo International Airport on the 12th, would she be able to gather up the courage to do so? Or would an outside source intervene and help her with that? Wait for the next chapter to find out!

BTW, I'm trying to move this fic along as slowly as possible, but not too slow. At the same time, I'm also trying hard not to rush through things. I was almost going to give away who the mysterious guy talking to Sakura through her thoughts and dreams was (though many of you may have already figured out who it is), but decided that could wait until future chapters.


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